Boxfish Raises $7M; Don't Fear Machines

Boxfish, a TV data startup, has raised $7 million in hopes of augmenting its product portfolio and expanding internationally. According to GigaOm, “Until now, the idea has been to profile viewers based on where they live and which shows they watch – but Boxfish could make these profiles a lot more granular by allowing companies to keep track of the segments a viewer skips and the topics he or she is interested in, thereby allowing networks to charge more for ads that for once are more hit than miss.” Read more.

Don’t Fear The Machine

Agencies worried that automation translates to job loss have nothing to fear, advises Nancy Hill, president and CEO of the 4As, in a column for Ad Age. By allowing machines to do the menial tasks, valuable human capital is freed up and operations are more efficient. Furthermore, there is a new level of accuracy with potential for reaching desired audiences more effectively. Read on. The 4As conference takes place this week in LA.

Animating Cheese

Yahoo is offering up a login ad with animation – or is it an odor? You decide. A steaming grilled cheese sandwich from Kraft is the poster child for Yahoo’s new motion ads, which are initially available through the “Billboard Ad on the Yahoo homepage, [the] vertical category homepages, and the Yahoo login page.” GIF animations are back!

Beyond Marketing

Maryam Banikarim, senior vice president and CMO of Gannett, takes to CNN Money to explain how her role is not just about marketing. She writes, “My job is to think about how to use the levers of marketing to gain insight into where consumers and the marketplace are heading – all with the goal of growing our business. In the end, it's about generating revenue.” Read the rest.

More App Ads

Tapjoy has launched a new platform, nGen, which seeks to drive app engagement and monetize the 95% of mobile app users who don’t typically complete in-app purchases. The platform offers a messaging system that helps publishers increase ad relevancy through contextualization. Learn more.